Don’t give up. Its probably not far off, it just needs more time and carefully planned feedings to get those yeasts nice and happy.
Out of curiosity, did you use different flours in the 1:1:5 vs 1:1:1 jars?
I hear what you’re saying @anon44372566 that doubled jar looks so promising though 
1 Like
I won’t give up. I am thinking of cutting the feedings back to once a day - the thinking being that I want to build up the population in my starter first, rather than continually diluting what I do have. Perhaps when I see “hooch” indicating the population is getting hungry, then I can go to twice a day. And I’ll give it a good stirring once or twice a day to get some air in there too.
1 Like
I have a great idea @linybob and @Fermentada
A three stage build with each stage as close to 1:1:1 and the last build being the final dough.
First Build:
- 36g starter
- 37g water
- 37g bread four
Tomorrow Morning and left to mature throughout the day.
Second Build:
- 110g starter
- 112g water
- 112g bread flour
Tomorrow night and left to mature till morning.
Final Dough:
- 334g starter
- 133g water (+ extra if needed)
- 333g bread flour
- 10g salt
Please check my maths. Should come to 500g flour + 300g water + 10g salt.
Morning day two:
Combine all the ingredients. Knead till full gluten formation. Shape into prepared loaf pan and bake when ready.
The recipe you suggest above is 1:3:5 (albeit with the addition of salt as well of course). But not so different from 1:5:5.
Yes. The first recipe has a levain inoculation of 20% starter and the levain itself is 20% in the final dough.
Things have not really improved. I believe that the bread flour I used was quite out of date, although it did not seem bad - no smell or anything, but the “best by” date is over 4 years ago. So I have thrown out the starter and the experimental levain.
I bought a new bag of Gold Medal Organic AP today from ShopRite and it expires in 2021 (that was all they had - I wanted KAF, but I took what they were selling).
I have built a new starter using 70% this flour/30% Bob’s Dark Rye (expiring also in 2021) and pineapple juice. 60gm of the flour mix and 60gm pineapple juice for today, covered with cheesecloth. I’ll add the same ingredients for the next two mornings and then switch to: discard 30g, feed 30g flour, 30g spring water starting on day 4.
I will also not use Dawn soap anymore to clean my jars - I will just use tap water.
Hopefully this next round I have better success. I will let you know in a week or two.
My random suggestion… go for 100% rye in your starter rather than mixing flours. Or 100% bread flour. My personal preference would be all rye.
Also, while there is absolutely nothing wrong with the recipe suggested above, it is only 64% hydration (550g aggregate flour and 350g aggregate water). That seems a bit low to me for sourdough bread especially if the starter is not overly active.
Every recipe is a guideline and one needs to adjust for flour used, humidity and even altitude. It’s also better to start off low and add more if needed! That’s why I always advise…
plus extra if needed
One can add more water but not take away. Adding extra flour upsets the whole recipe. Adding water does not.
Sourdough can be low hydration too. Its not a rule it has to be high. Sourdough is bread leavened with a starter made from flour and water fermented naturally with wild yeasts and bacteria. Its that, and not the hydration, that makes it sourdough. Sourdough also feels more hydrated the longer it ferments so better a bit lower than too high. Plus when one is starting off its always best to keep it simple.